You and Your Car
Do you view your car as something more than a car or just as a means of transportation? I heard on the radio this morning that our love affair with our car is on the downturn, with 75% of the population viewing their cars as just a means to an end.
Until we got the speaking Prius, I never personified my car. It was always just "the Honda," "the old Volvo," "the new Volvo," or something else as unimaginative.
Some Bloggers have mentioned their cars by name. Velvet drives Speedracer, Cookie has a named red Mustang, and Reya still mourns the loss of her beloved Neptuna. So there are those among us who have included their cars in their family, so to speak.
Is the car divorce rate on the upturn because of the rising fuel allowance that we have to pay these family members? Why else would that be happening?
But most curiously, who paid for a study to analyze our relationship to our cars?
posted by Barbara at 10:51 AM
12 Comments:
The name "Velvet" was really the name of my first car. So the actual word I use as my blog name is an ode to the Acura Integra I never should have sold...but it was the color of Blue Velvet.
It took me a year to name Speedracer. But ugh, Speedracer and I had a lot of fights due to constant things breaking in the car. I refused to name Speedracer as such until he/she/it shaped up and started flying right.
I totally have a love affair with my car and cars in general. This is partly why I'm so into Formula 1 racing and vintage cars. When I was little, Dad had a Corvair I called NU NU. It was the new new car. I was crushed when he sold it. And it hurt to let my Achieva go...but the windows wouldn't go up and down...so...I'm in the Escort now. And I love it...but no name yet. Although I do have a pair of sunshades with flaming 8 balls on them...so I could call her FLAMES...but that might just be inviting the universe to kick my butt and cause it to go up in smoke.
My car is such a POS that it is a means to an end. Too poor to buy anything for a while.
Any special reasons for having two Swedish car (Volvo) in a row? Have you tried Saab?
I have an Audi which is just a car - have never tought of naming it. I use it as little as I can as I perfer public transportation - more fun, more suffitiont and less polution you know:-)
The Jeep goes by Sam. I definitely have a connection with my car, and have with all of the cars I've owned. I don't even drive much.
Velvet, Sue, Kristin -- I can sense that you all have a close affinity with your car. Probably a good thing. How do you decide whether your car is male/female? hm.....
Renny -- Saabs are outside my budget! We got the old 1985 Volvo for $5,000 in 1996. We got the "new" 1997 Volvo for $14,000 in 1999. Both great cars, but we could never have afforded them as new cars. Just so happens that they are Swedish! (My Norwegian grandmother is probably turning over in her grave.)
OL -- At first I thought POS was your car's name. Then I realized that it is probably in about the same shape as my 1991 Honda, a real POS if there ever was one.
I'm still deciding with my newi-ish Mazda 3. I think it takes a while to figure out a car's personality. At the moment, I'm leaning toward Simon.
I don't recall the name of my prior car, a VW GTI that was forever in the shop and having horrendously costly, mysteriously-not-qualified-for-warrenty-coverage repairs. I usually just addressed it by a long string of obscenities.
John -- Why Simon?
Luckily, we only need one vehicle, and as we often go "Off road", we decided to get a good one, a Nissan Pathfinder,Chilkoot Trail, model. It was a lease takeover and a very good deal. It's a '98 and we'll probably have to get a newer one soon as it will only be good for 1 more winter. The price for a new one is a ridiculous $52 000! Next car may not be the same kind at all, but it's been a fabulous one.
A psych prof at university said that cars, for males especially, represented their sexual prowess and was an "extension" (pardon the pun!)of their male appendage! The class laughed at the possibilities this suggested as we went through the young guys who invariably had VW Beetles, Minis or no car at all!
The sexual prowess comment makes me think - Sam (the Jeep's name) is short for Samantha, as in the character on Sex and the City. I thought the car was tough and flirty, fun but serious. I picked a name to match.
My last car: Mr. Toad (for his wild ride)
Before that: Little Vicious (or Little Bitch, depending on the day) because she was rather temperamental
All pretty sexual, I guess.
Well, I have certainly learned more than I bargained for about your relationships with your cars. The whole sexual concept of naming cars is particularly intriguing. It's funny how something that I thought was a rather lame excuse for a post could attract so much attention!
We named our GPS's, and by extension, the cars. The Prius is Gracie and the Audi is Gina. My mom started this, naming hers Gee for GPS.
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